My son

When I found out I was pregnant, I went into the doctor's office and they ordered up a full set of blood work, like they do for every expecting mom. By the time the results came back, I was about 7 weeks along. The results came back showing that I had severe hypothyroidism. The doctor had me retested, just to be sure, since I wasn't showing any of the signs of most hypothyroid people, and by the time I went in, got the blood work done again, waiting for the results to come back (which had the same results), went back to the doctor for a consultation and got my prescription filled, I was about 8 weeks along. By this time, I had done plenty of research on the internet about the effects of having untreated hypothyroidism during pregnancy. The things I read ranged from kids being practically brain dead, to having a slightly lower IQ than they would have had otherwise. I also read that after the first trimester, the baby has it's own thyroid and produces it's own hormones. But, until then, the baby is solely relying on Mommy's thyroid hormones. Well, that's good. I was only 8 weeks along and I had already started taking my medicine. The problem was, it takes 4 weeks for the medicine to start working the way it should. After doing some basic math (that can be pretty difficult for pregnancy brain) I calculated that my baby would get one week of the hormones he needed, instead of twelve.

I really didn't stress about this too much. I knew that, no matter what, my baby would be great, and I really wasn't worried about his IQ being a few points lower. I mean, his daddy is a freakin' rocket scientist! I'm sure he can spare a few points.

So, now I have this amazing two year old, that is, in no way, brain dead. I doubt that his IQ is even lower. But I can't help but compare him to his little friends. I know. I know. I should never compare my kid to other kids, and I really don't make a habit of it. But sometimes, in a moment of weakness, I'll find myself doing it. Jackson had his little neighbor friend over today, who is, essentially the same age as him. His friend was playing with a toy that sang the ABC song, and he was singing right along! I couldn't believe it! Jackson calls them the BBB's and only knows the ending phrase letters. The rest are just B's. "B B B B B B GEEEEE, B B B B B B B B PEEEEEE, B B ESSSSSSS, B B VEEEEEE, B EXXXXXX, B AND ZEEEEE!" It's absolutely adorable, and I have no doubt that he will learn the actual letters sooner rather than later. But, when I see a little boy his age, and he knows all of the letters, I can't help but feel like it's my fault that Jackson doesn't know all of the letters too. I even told Eric at dinner tonight that I thought we should be working on the alphabet more with Jackson. So, after dinner, we all sang the alphabet song about twenty times.

Yesterday, we hosted a neighborhood party at our house. Another neighbor said that she heard her son (who is also the same age as Jackson) count, by himself, all the way to 13. Another mom said that her son can only count to 10. Jackson? He can only count to 5....on a good day. Usually he just says 1,2,3 GO! (It's so darn cute when he does it though) Looks like I've failed as a mom again. Potty training? Nope! Not even close. In fact, I think he rather enjoys crapping in his diaper.

But here is where MY son stands above the rest. He is the sweetest, kindest, most gentle two year old boy I know. He happily shares his toys. He always says please and thank you. He plays nice with his friends. He has an excellent jump shot. And he is the best hugger on the face of the earth....seriously.....he even makes the grunty/squeezy noise when he hugs you.

He is so perfectly perfect, I couldn't ask for a better son. And he will learn to count, and say his ABCs and know his colors, and start to read, and do math, and go to school. And before I know it he won't be my little boy anymore, and I'll wish he still said his BBBs. So, whenever I see a little one his age, who is doing something that he doesn't know how to do yet, I'll stop myself, and get an extra long hug from the best hugger on the face of the earth.....seriously.....